Mitch Hewitt sawed his way in quest for gold against the world's top athletes of the Original Extreme Sport

Mitch Hewitt chopped his way to a third place finish in Norway for the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® 2017 World Championship

WAIBLINGEN, Germany and LILLEHAMMER, Norway, Nov. 4, 2017 /CNW/ - The STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® World Championships in Lillehammer, Norway is the 2017 season finale for the global series. Today, Jason Wynnard (New Zealand) chopped and sawed his way to victory, defeating 12 of the top athletes in the world along the way.

Mitch Hewitt saws his way to a bronze medal finish at STIHL TIMBERSPORTS World Championships. (CNW Group/STIHL TIMBERSPORTS)

2017 STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® Canadian Champion Mitch Hewitt sawed and chopped his way to a bronze medal finish against twelve of the best TIMBERSPORTS® athletes in the world! An impressive stock saw performance and an incredible springboard chop kept Hewitt on the podium alongside Brad De Losa (Australia) and World Champion Jason Wynnard (New Zealand).

"I had a goal in mind and we trained very hard this week and I had a great championship. I won three events, including springboard which is my specialty, and in the end we got the results we came here for. I want to thank my team (Team Canada) for their support today and I am very happy to bring this medal back home to Canada", Hewitt says.

2017 STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® Canadian Champion Mitch Hewitt led Team Canada in the Team Event at the World Championships yesterday in Lillehammer, Norway. Mitch (Scott Creek, BC) was joined by 2016 Canadian Champion Stirling Hart (Vancouver, BC), 2015 Canadian Champion Marcel Dupuis (Memramcook, NB), Nathan Cumberland (Keswick Ridge, NB), and the newest member to Team Canada, Nick Russell (Port McNeil, BC). Nick was selected for Team Canada after setting a new national record in Stock Saw during the 2017 STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® Canadian Championships. Another newcomer to Team Canada is 2017 Canadian Rookie Champion, Thomas Henderson (River John, NS). Team Canada brought a strong performance against Wynnard's Team New Zealand in the semi-finals, but when every millisecond counts in STIHL TIMBERSPORTS®, New Zealand prevailed to win the World Championships.

About STIHL TIMBERSPORTS®STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® is an international logger sports competition series. Its roots lie in Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand, where local loggers would hold competitions to determine who the strongest man was. These logging disciplines evolved with time into a series of sporting disciplines that require tremendous athleticism, strength, precision and power. Today the world's best athletes compete in national and international events featuring three axe disciplines (Springboard Chop, Underhand Chop and Standing Block Chop) and three sawing disciplines (Single Buck, Stock Saw and the open class, modified Hot Saw. Athletes compete against each other and the clock. For more information visit: www.stihl-timbersports.com

More information on the sport as well as photos and video material can be found atwww.stihl-timbersports.com or in the media pool at http://media.stihl-timbersports.com(accreditation required).Images can be used free of charge for editorial purposes with the identification text "Image: STIHL TIMBERSPORTS®"

STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® is a registered trademark of ANDREAS STIHL AG & Co. KG. For more information about the trademark visit www.timbersports.ca